ABOVE: © ISTOCK, TAHIR ABBAS
The bar-headed goose (Anser indicus) flies over the tallest peaks of the Himalayas as it migrates from India to Mongolia each year. When oxygen levels in the thin air dip as low as 7 percent, the bird’s metabolism likewise dips to accommodate, yet its wings beat just as fast as before, researchers reported August 3 in eLife.
The goose’s high-altitude flights have been a biological mystery for decades. A mountain climber spotted a bar-headed goose overhead while summiting Mount Everest back in 1953, according to Science. Scientists marveled at how the creature could ascend nine kilometers above the earth?—two kilometers higher than any other known animal flies.
Scientists have long known that bar-headed geese boast an enhanced ability to bind oxygen to their hemoglobin. A study conducted in 2009 also revealed that the birds sport more capillaries around their pectoral muscle cells than related species ...
